3 Easy Ways to Increase Your Small Business Sales
Having started my business career using the more traditional bricks and mortar business route, I know all too well how difficult it can be to increase sales for a small business. Unfortunately today it is even more difficult for local businesses to survive as more and more of us opt for the more convenient route of ordering our products online… But are there any “tactics” that small businesses can do? use to attract more of us to buy your goods or services?
Mobile Marketing: Promotion for Converts
Many local businesses miss out on the “big time” by wasting too much valuable time and resources chasing new customers when the real money (and ongoing revenue) comes from marketing to existing customers. After all, people who have already bought from you will already know the quality of your product or service, and as long as the buying experience they had with you was good, they are likely to buy from you again and even encourage others. to buy from you too… They just need a little notice or reminder that you’re still open for business.
One of the easiest and most instant ways to market to existing customers is to use mobile marketing. Let’s be honest, most of us now carry our phones with us 24 hours a day and more text messages are opened immediately than any other form of communication.
In fact, most of us now provide a mobile phone number as our first point of contact instead of the more traditional landline contact number. Therefore, all small business owners should make sure to stock up on these valuable mobile numbers and start using them to promote their business through cheap text messages. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to get started, there are affordable training packages that will show you step by step how to set up a mobile marketing campaign.
The best way to achieve instant results for your business using this method is to promote an offer or promotion. Let’s be honest, we all like a bargain, so simply offering, say, a free glass of wine to customers who reserve a table at your restaurant on a quiet night will help attract more business. Although it will cost you a glass of wine, you will more than make up for it by filling the empty tables with paying customers.
Mobile marketing can benefit other small businesses as well, including text message appointment reminders for businesses like dentists or doctors, attracting people to car showrooms via Bluetooth messaging, promoting special deals for businesses like beauticians or spas. There are endless benefits that using mobile marketing as part of your local business marketing can offer, including that it’s cheap, fast, and delivers instant results.
What is a business without a good website?
It amazes me how many local businesses are not online yet. Given the ever-growing popularity of the Internet, small businesses that don’t market their business online are missing out on tremendous revenue potential and are instead passing that business on to other savvy business owners.
Building a website for your business doesn’t have to cost a fortune… In fact, some websites even offer free templates you can use. Then you simply need to purchase a domain name and some hosting for your website. If you don’t have the confidence or knowledge to do it yourself, there are websites that offer a way to outsource this task to others at a fairly low price, just check out outsourcing sites that offer that kind of service. Often you can bid on outsourcing websites that will invite people to bid on the job. This can be a great way to get the best value for your money.
Again, there is training packages available that offer step-by-step training on the best ways to build a website for your business along with the cheapest ways to drive traffic to your website, including how to get on page 1 of Google.
No doubt, no matter what small business you own, having a good internet presence is vital to ensuring consistent sales for your business.
Business Blogs: Seeing the Big Picture
It is often quite difficult to persuade small businesses to start blogging. They don’t realize that blogging can significantly increase the sales of their business; most unfortunately fail to see the big picture.
Blogging takes time, but if you are consistent, your business will start to see spectacular results. Blogging for your business can help you connect with people, especially if you are careful to write in a style that is unique to you and offers valuable content. If you’re careful to offer helpful advice within your blog, you’ll help market yourself as an expert people can trust, which will result in the reader buying from you instead of your competitor. No matter what business you run, whether you’re a dog trainer, piano teacher, store owner, or driving instructor, blogging can offer an affordable and fun way to make your business stand out.
You can then drive traffic to your business blog by sharing the link to your blog on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. There are also opportunities available (for a small monthly fee) for small businesses to use existing high-ranking blogging sites to promote their business.
These are the 3 ways that I personally find to be the most effective in increasing your small business sales. These are methods that I have personally used with success in all of my businesses, as they are affordable and generate instant results.